Flinders St Station - one of the most iconic landmarks in Melbourne. It’s featured constantly on postcards and is probably the most photographed building in the city, but how much do you really know about this site? Show Me Melbourne takes a look at its history and features.
Flinders Street Station has been the main metropolitan train station for Melbourne for well over 150 years. There has been a station here since 1854 when a single line was installed to what is now Port Melbourne which makes it Australia’s oldest train station. From 1865 to 1892 it was also the site of Melbourne’s first fish market – probably not the greatest entry to the city! By the late 1920s Flinders St was the busiest train station in the entire world serving almost 300,000 passengers a day!
The current French Renaissance style building was completed in 1910. It was the result of a design competition. The winning designers were two railway workers James Fawcett and H.P.C. Ashworth. There were a range of spaces that could be let for shops and offices, from the basement and ranging up a further four floors. Most of the top floor was reserved for the Victorian Railways Institute which over the years has included a lecture theatre which was later converted into a grand ballroom, a library, crèche with a roof-top open air playground, a billiard room, a private gym with a boxing ring and even a roof-top running track which I believe is still there. The ballroom was a popular place for dances in the 50s and 60s but unfortunately closed in the mid-1980s and fell into disrepair. The only chance you have to see it these days is during Open House Melbourne in July each year. But only if you’re one of the 20 or so people lucky enough to win a ticket! The room has undergone a structural refurbishment in the past few years, but as far as I’m aware there are still no concrete plans to reopen it. If you want to get an idea of the interior, check out Vance Joy’s 2014 film clip of My Kind of Man.
One of the most famous features of the station is the clocks out front showing the next train scheduled for each line. Undoubtedly the most popular meeting place in the city, “I’ll meet you under the clocks” is a saying that has been used by generations of Melbournians. The clocks actually predate the current station building by around 50 years having been used at the previous station. These days they’re automatic, but originally they were manually adjusted. At one point it was someone’s job to change them around 900 times in an 8 hour shift using a long pole. I’ve done the maths for you and that’s 112 times an hour or almost twice a minute.
When it was proposed that they be replaced by digital clocks there was such a public uproar that they were reinstated within 24 hours.
There’s always something new to learn about Flinders St, and something I only learned yesterday is that in the late 1980s when the station was being refurbished the builders incorporated heating under the stone steps so that people sitting there wouldn’t get cold! I have clear memories of my grandmother telling me about the same era that if I sat on cold concrete I’d get piles, so maybe the chief engineer had been told the same thing! Or maybe he was just a nice guy.
If you’re in Melbourne and visiting Flinders St Station, allow a little time to have a look at one of the original shops – City Hatters. Before the current station was built this was the station masters office, but since 1910 it’s been a hat shop. They’ve served generations of Melbournians from swaggies to aristocracy. It’s changed hands a couple of times, but the current owners have had it since 1927. Definitely a Melbourne institution.
If you’re looking for a guided tour of Melbourne, including Flinders St Station, have a look at our tours on offer or email us at info@showmemelbourne.com.au and let us design a private tour just for you.